The pilot escaped after his single-engine plane crashed into a two-story home in Northglenn, Colo., outside Denver. / KUSA-TV

by Michael Winter, USA TODAY

by Michael Winter, USA TODAY

The pilot of a single-engine plane trailing an advertising banner parachuted to safety Monday before his aircraft crashed into a home outside Denver, setting the two-story house on fire, KUSA-TV reports.

No one was home when the Piper PA-25 Pawnee slammed into the back of the two-story home in Northglenn, Adams County, about 3:30 p.m. MT. The plane's engine lost power, said Tom Mace, owner of Drag'n'Fly Banners, which had recently bought the plane.

He said the aircraft just had its annual inspection.

Mace told KUSA that the pilot, who was not identified, was an engineer for the local South Metro Fire Rescue Authority. After landing, the pilot checked to see if anyone was in the house and then grabbed a garden hose to fight the fire. Firefighters from North Metro Fire rescued a dog from the garage.

A witness told KUSA, which is owned by Gannett, USA TODAY's parent company, that the pilot struggled to keep the banner aloft and the plane crashed after making a U-turn.

Another witness told KMGH-TV that the plane's nose was up when it went down and that the banner was advertising Geico, the insurance company owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway.

Besides towing banners, the PA-25 Pawnee is used for crop dusting or towing gliders.